Steve Alexander was a lifelong gamer until #GamerGate ripped the veil from his innocent (albeit bloodshot) eyes. Unlike most of his generation, he does not believe in Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and can be reached at [email protected] You can follow him on Twitter.

Feminist Frequency, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 “educational” organization, published its first annual report on the 23rd of January, revealing a larger-than-expected total of donations in 2014 and vague plans for 2015. However, even with an influx of cash, there is no mention of their making good on the terms of their Kickstarter or some of the stretch goals they promised. Additionally, research concludes that the Content DIrector of Intel, Kim Pallister, is not only a member of the IDGA but a supporter of Anita Sarkeesian.

A chart reflecting #GamerGate

As part of their annual report, they posted a chart which shows their donations through 2014 and their budget for 2015:

Notice when donations picked up for FemFreq?

First, the obvious: note that the first half of the year managed to net Feminist Frequency a little over five grand, a pittance in the grand scheme of things. Then #GamerGate happened, and it looks like Feminist Frequency was the real winner, with nearly forty grand in the third quarter (which makes sense considering the low awareness of #GamerGate in the beginning) and a ridiculous sum of almost $400,000 in the fourth quarter. It should be noted that over $230,000 of that sum was donated in the month of December alone, not surprising considering Intel’s announcement to partner with Feminist Frequency and other social justice friendly outfits for a $300 million giveaway.

Yes, it looks like the Intel checks have started coming in, which explains the $260,000 Feminist Frequency has earmarked for “programs.” Presumably Intel is expecting to see a return on their investment from Feminist Frequency. But will they get anything from Feminist Frequency? Anita’s Kickstarter backers aren’t exactly reaping the rewards of their decision.

A history of dereliction

Let’s look at the Kickstarter for Feminist Frequency. The Tropes Vs. Women videos, which were supposed to have been delivered by the end of 2012, were the primary objective of the Kickstarter, but was that work ever carried out?

Below is a list from the Kickstarter page of the original videos.

The original list of Feminist Frequency videos…

…And this is the list with the completed videos crossed out.

Additionally, Feminist Frequency has yet to fill at least SOME of the stretch goals. That’s very easy to determine, because the top tier donation perks are copies of the completed set of Tropes Vs. Women videos.

Good luck collecting on this stretch goal.

This is startling considering that the Kickstarter itself had an initial goal of $6,000 and ended up with over $150,000. If anything, the Kickstarter proves that even if you throw money at Feminist Frequency, it’s not going to convince them to do actual work.

Buyer’s Remorse

Even if you feel remorse at having backed Feminist Frequency, there is little you can do about it. Sure, the current Kickstarter terms read as such:

When a project is successfully funded, the creator must complete the project and fulfill each reward. Once a creator has done so, they’ve satisfied their obligation to their backers…

If a creator is unable to complete their project and fulfill rewards, they’ve failed to live up to the basic obligations of this agreement. To right this, they must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to the best possible conclusion for backers…

The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project. If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers.

Of course, these Terms of Use were changed because Feminist Frequency, Grace Lynn, and other over-funded projects were not delivering. The terms back in 2012 were not so restrictive on the “creator,” which is one reason why The Anita & Jon Show feels no particular obligation to fulfill the terms of their agreement with people who handed them a life-changing sum of money. In fact, though this Kickstarter should have alerted Intel to the fact they would not get the money’s worth when dealing with Feminist Frequency, it didn’t. Intel also managed to overlook Jonathan McIntosh’s anti-Israel rants despite its close ties to Israel, especially considering that Intel is Israel’s largest private-sector employer.

I wonder what would make Intel overlook (a) Feminist Frequency’s demonstrable underdelivery of product and (b) hardcore anti-Israel rhetoric. Well, it wouldn’t be #GamerGate if collusion wasn’t discovered yet again. Well known #GamerGate researcher FartToContinue has exposed links between Kim Pallister, Content Director of Intel, and Feminist Frequency. In fact, he was one of the few people who thought ABC’s Nightline did a good job on their completely unresearched #GamerGate segment. Mr. Pallister has also been a member of the IGDA since 2005, and yes, that’s the same IGDA that took a piece of the Intel Social Justice $300 million giveaway. Give those images a look and spread the word.

It appears the corruption runs incredibly deep, and not just in games journalism but on the manufacturing side as well. There is nothing ethical going on here, and in order to distract the general public from that, the gaming press is continuing their narrative of harassment. And why wouldn’t they? Apparently there is a lot of money to be had for toeing the party line, judging from Feminist Frequency’s financials (and who knows what IGDA’s would reveal). Keep digging, people. And vote against corruption with your wallet, as always.

Steve Alexander was a lifelong gamer until #GamerGate ripped the veil from his innocent (albeit bloodshot) eyes. Unlike most of his generation, he does not believe in Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and can be reached at [email protected] You can follow him on Twitter.